Preliminary efficiency evaluation of development methods applied to aged sebaceous latent fingermarks

The effect of household corrosive substances on latent fingermark development in the context of deliberate corrosive substance attacks

“…Of those samples exposed to lemon juice, 54% of 1‐week‐aged fingermarks were identifiable and a further 39% detected but insufficient compared to better results for the fresh fingermarks: 68% and 31%, respectively. The good quality enhancement of 1‐week‐aged sebaceous loaded fingermarks is consistent with previous observations and that some constituents generally remain stable over time and do not degrade [27, 28, 30, 31].…”

“…The good quality enhancement of 1-week-aged sebaceous loaded fingermarks is consistent with previous observations and that some constituents generally remain stable over time and do not degrade [27,28,30,31]. Domestos bleach and Harpic limescale remover have a similarly destructive effect on 1-week-aged fingermarks.…”

“…A similar reduction in quality is seen for those fingermarks exposed to lemon juice: 13% of fresh natural fingermarks considered identifiable drops to 4% of 1-week-aged and 29% of fresh natural fingermarks considered detected but insufficient drops to 19% of 1-week-aged fingermarks. The decrease in ridge detail after leaving the natural marks to age for 1 week could be explained by the loss of moisture as water evaporates and degradation of fingermark residue constituents resulting in reduced material on the substrate which is less receptive to powder enhancement [28,30]. In the case of the sebaceous-loaded fingermarks, overall fingermark enhancement quality was higher but again decreased with aging.…”

Interpol review of fingermarks and other body impressions (2019 – 2022)

“…Fingermark aging – Brief overview of the studies aiming at monitoring the evolution with time of the fingermark composition, to identify aging markers: use of chemical assays based on amino acids [ 152 ]; demonstration that the fingermark quality cannot be used as an aging marker when fingermarks are exposed to heat for a prolonged period of time (i.e., light bulbs powered for up to 672 h) [ 153 ]; evolution of ridge width [ 154 ] and colour contrast metric [ 155 ] from powder-dusted fingermarks; use of μ-FTIR combined with chemometric tools [ 156 ]; evolution of triglycerides (triacylglycerols) with time and better comprehension of the ozonolysis-driven degradation pathway [ 157 , 158 ]; degradation of squalene and cholesterol upon exposure to temperatures ranging from −20°C to 100°C [ 159 ]; consideration of amino acid racemization, more particularly the enantiomeric ratio of D/ l -serine, as aging marker [ 160 ]; evolution of fatty acids over a 30-day-aging period and consequences on detection techniques (i.e., powder dusting, iodine and silver nitrate) [ 161 ]. It should be noted that most of these above-cited studies considered sebum-rich fingermarks.…”

Green Composites from Thiophene Chalcones and Rice Husk Lignin: An Alternative of Powder for Latent Fingermark

“…Fingerprints have been used as a method of human identification since ancient times due to their uniqueness to each individual and have become fundamental in crime scene investigations as circumstantial evidence for suspect identification [1,2]. When the fingermarks are found in latent form, it is necessary to use a development technique.…”